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paxysyesterday at 10:13 PM4 repliesview on HN

Title says "helps" but the summary says "it doesn’t effectively treat anxiety, depression, or PTSD". Big difference between the two IMO.

Plenty of people use cannabis to alleviate symptoms. I don't think they expect to be cured entirely. Getting a good night's sleep or being without chronic pain for a few hours is often enough.


Replies

roywigginsyesterday at 10:52 PM

It's a meta-study and came to the conclusion that there isn't reliable evidence that it alleviates symptoms of a bunch of stuff:

> There were no significant effects on outcomes associated with anxiety, anorexia nervosa, psychotic disorders, post-traumatic stress disorder, and opioid use disorder. There were insufficient data to meta-analyse studies of ADHD, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and tobacco use disorder. There was an absence of RCT evidence for the treatment of depression.

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charles_ftoday at 12:20 AM

Beyond the semantics, this is what the meta analysis(1) actually says in the abstract

> There were insufficient data to meta-analyse studies of ADHD, bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and tobacco use disorder. There was an absence of RCT evidence for the treatment of depression. Meta-analysis revealed higher odds of all-cause adverse events (OR 1·75, 95% CI 1·25 to 2·46) among those using cannabis versus control group

The paper says there's no evidence of effectiveness in treatment, and evidence of harm.

1: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanpsy/article/PIIS2215-0...

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tomberttoday at 1:05 AM

> Plenty of people use cannabis to alleviate symptoms. I don't think they expect to be cured entirely.

Obviously can't speak for everyone, but I know people who do think literally that. They think that weed will actually cure their depression, and they'll allude to some studies about it that I'm pretty sure don't exist and that they just made up.

smt88yesterday at 10:41 PM

"Treat" != "cure"